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NFL QB Aaron Rodgers turning longshots into science

Posted: Jan 12 2017 07:50PM EST

Video Posted: Jan 12 2017 07:42PM EST

Updated: Jan 12 2017 07:51PM EST

LOS ANGELES -

In football, the “Hail Mary” is a play known by even the most casual fan. Sometimes an entire football season can go by without seeing one successfully completed. Thanks to Aaron Rodgers, you’d have to be hiding under a rock to not have heard it uttered lately.

That’s because the Green Bay Packers quarterback is turning a prayer that is rarely answered... into science. He has delivered on three of them in the span of 13 months. All of them, seemingly thrown straight into the air and dropping down from the heavens above.

"The high arc is definitely by design," Rodgers told ESPN. "I want to make sure those guys get a chance to get down there and jump. The key is the offensive line giving you a little bit of time. So we just did a little roll to the right, and obviously backside was firm in the protection. By the time I get to the spot on the field where I want to throw it, I'm 100 percent confident that the ball is going to be in a catchable spot. It's just a matter of those guys getting in the right situation, and that's how you draw it up. Obviously, you don't think you're going to catch it every time, but we've been fairly successful with it."

The last-ditch effort play has long been in existence, but it wasn’t given a name until Dallas Cowboys quarterback Roger Staubach coined the term in 1975. The 50-yard pass with 24 seconds left found Drew Pearson in the endzone, and gave the Cowboys a 17-14 win over the Minnesota Vikings in an NFL Divisional Playoff game. Staubach was a devout Catholic and later confided that he said a Hail Mary prayer after the ball left his hands.

Although Roger was the originator, it appears as though Aaron Rodgers is perfecting the most entertaining play in football. Watch the video to see why we are drawn to the Hail Mary play.